Books can sometimes be the friend you need when you don’t know where to turn.
Our recommendations for World Suicide Prevention Day 2020 may just help you understand what it takes to come back from the brink of suicidal thoughts, and find a way to health and happiness.
Barber Talk
Up to a certain age, Tom Chapman rarely had any reason to worry about his – or anyone else’s – mental health. Aside from a bout of loneliness when his friends left town to go to university, he didn’t struggle too badly with his emotions either.
But when he suddenly lost a friend to suicide, Tom knew that he wanted to do something to change the culture around men’s mental health. Through his work as a barber, he recognised how important it was to encourage men to talk to each other. He knew that if he could just help men to open up, then perhaps he could save lives. And so the ‘Lions Barber Collective’ was born: an international group of top barbers, all of which came together to encourage conversation and help raise awareness for the prevention of suicide.
Man Up Man Down
What does it do to you when someone you love tries to end their life?
Paul McGregor’s dad tried to kill himself, but survived. He went into hospital, came home, and got better. Or at least that’s what people thought. A few months later, the battle continued. And on the 4th March 2009, Paul’s Dad ended his life.
You’re a young man, and your dad has just taken his life. How do you grieve? Tormented by the question of why, you lock it away and man up. You wear a mask to show others you’re coping, but you spend every moment you have alone an emotional wreck. Wishing he was still here. You chase money, status, success all as a way to distract yourself from those feelings. But none of it works. You find yourself feeling like you too, will end your own life.
Man Up Man Down is Paul’s tale of recovery. Taking off that mask and being able to answer the questions that surrounded his Dad’s suicide. If you’ve ever lost somebody to suicide, this book is for you.
Mark Simmonds’ life was mapped out from the very beginning: go to university, climb the corporate ladder, marry and have children. But life isn’t so easy, and success is hard to manage. After making what seemed like the right move in his career, Mark suffered from increasing levels of stress and anxiety, leading to his nervous breakdown.
As the ground he’d stood on for years started to crumble, Mark did something he never thought he’d do: he attempted to take his own life. He stepped back from his work to focus on creating a balance in his life. But then his world fell apart for a second time when his daughter, Emily, became anorexic.
Finding strength he never knew he had, Mark fought alongside Emily, both lost, both scared, but finding solace in one other.
Breakdown and Repair tells the touching tale of a father saving himself by saving his daughter.
